


a girl once told me

by dalfattais1836



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, Catra (She-Ra) Needs a Hug, Catra is Good With Kids, Catra is in Love with Adora (She-Ra), Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Human Catra (She-Ra), My First Fanfic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV Adora (She-Ra), POV Catra (She-Ra), rated for language, they're both useless lesbians okay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,213
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28258782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalfattais1836/pseuds/dalfattais1836
Summary: "Adora had expected a lot from Camp Brightmoon. She expected to get frustrated with campers (you know how kids can be). She expected to get an awful farmer’s tan. She even expected to capsize one of her canoes (she was notoriously bad at canoeing). But the one thing she wasn’t expecting was for Catra to be sitting in one of the chairs at Counselor Orientation."----------------------------------------------------------------------------------or Catra and Adora are forced to work together at an overnight summer camp and reconnect after three years apart.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	1. Welcome to Camp Brightmoon

There was nothing Adora loved more than cruising around with Swift Wind, her 2004 Subaru Outback, rolling the windows down, and blaring her favorite music. It reminded her of times back in high school taking trips out to the mountains in the spring and summer. _Those were the good old days_ , she thought to herself as she coasted down a meandering country road in the Whispering Woods.

“In five hundred feet your destination will be on the left,” the monotonous drone of Adora’s GPS pulled her out of her thoughts. As she slowed, she turned down her music and kept her eyes peeled for the sign that Glimmer assured her would mark the entrance. After a few seconds it seemingly sprang out from behind a growth of shrubs and the big purple blocky letters confirmed she was in the right place: WELCOME TO CAMP BRIGHTMOON. 

She pulled into the driveway which, despite being unpaved, was relatively well kept. After a hundred yards or so it began to widen and the first building appeared along with a parking lot. She saw Glimmer reclined on the bench scrolling through her phone so Adora decided to give her a honk. Glimmer jumped at the loud noise and rolled her eyes, gesturing towards the parking lot.

“I’m surprised you didn’t decide to flip me off, Glimmer! You must be in a wonderful mood or something,” Adora laughed as she clambered out of her car. 

“Who me? I would never!” Glimmer mocked offense as she got up from the bench. “Plus, even if I _would_ have, I don’t want to scare away such a noble volunteer!” 

“Hey, you know I’d do anything for you guys!” Adora smiled as she popped open the trunk to grab her suitcase.

“I know, but seriously… Thank you. I don’t know what we would have done. Mara just quit on us _so_ last minute and there was no other way we could’ve found a replacement and-”

“You’re welcome, Glimmer.” Camp Brightmoon was the pride and joy of Angella and Micah Brightmoon, and when one of their counselors had to cancel last minute they had no one else to turn to other than Adora, who had gladly stepped up to the plate. It was only a couple weeks in the summer and Adora was okay with kids. How hard could it be really?

“You don’t understand how grateful my parents are for you Adora,” Glimmer smiled and before she could say anything more the sounds of pounding footsteps interrupted her.

“ADORA!” Bow flew the new hire into a hug nearly knocking her to her feet.

“Hey Bow!” Adora grunted as she tried to remain balanced. “Jeez, you’re acting like we didn’t see each other two weeks ago for finals.”

“Two weeks too long, Adora! Two weeks too long!” He finally let go after one extra good squeeze. As he pulled away Adora caught sight of his shirt, a purple Camp Brightmoon crop top.

“Wait Bow, I love the shirt! Am I going to get one?” Adora asked excitedly. It really was a cool shirt—blockly letters spelt out the name of the camp in front of a silhouette of a crescent moon.

“Isn’t it snazzy? It even says counselor on the back,” He spun around and thrust his thumbs towards the text along his upper back. “You’ll get a couple at counselor orientation, don’t worry! But if you want to look as cool as me you’re going to have to crop it yourself.” 

“Orientation?” Adora asked. 

“It’s in like an hour, we’ll tour the camp and go over rules and the schedule and all that. It’s actually really boring apart from getting the shirts,” Glimmer explained. “But first we should get your stuff to your cabin!” 

The Best Friend Squad walked past the small building that Adora had parked next to. _The administrative building,_ she remembered Glimmer calling it. They passed another larger building and a pavilion before being greeted with a wide field flanked by three cabins on either side. In the center was a huge fire pit with several benches surrounding it. At the very far end stood what Adora presumed to be a flag pole, but she couldn’t be sure seeing as there was no flag flying. 

As Glimmer led her down a path towards the cabins on the right Adora took in the view of the lake which sprawled out behind the cabins. It wasn’t huge, but it was breathtaking. A fairly large beach was only about a hundred yards past the cabins and featured a dock, boathouse, and volleyball net. Before Adora could take in any more of her surroundings Glimmer halted at the cabin in the middle. 

“Here you are,” Glimmer led her up the steps and inside. They entered into a small common area with two couches and a coffee table between them. A few short bookcases were shoved against the back wall below the window and held some beaten up board games and other various indoor activities.

“We’re cabin mates!” Bow said excitedly as he followed them up through the steps. “My campers and I will all be on this side,” he gestured towards the right hand side of the cabin. 

“So I’m guessing I’m on this side then?” Adora asked as she started down the left hallway.

“Yep!” Glimmer confirmed. “Camp rules mandate that counselors stay at the end of the hallways across from the bathrooms, which can get a little annoying at times but isn’t too bad.” 

The hallway wasn’t terribly long; only three small rooms were on either side, each featuring a bunk bed and two dressers, save for the two rooms on the end: the bathroom and Adora’s new place of residence for the next four weeks.

Instead of the bunk beds, Adora’s room had a single twin bed, a night stand, and a dresser. Adora rolled her suitcase against the wall and flopped onto the bed which groaned under the weight of her body. Bow and Glimmer followed suit, the bed screaming at the load of an extra pair of bodies, and the three of them sat there looking up at the ceiling. 

“This will be so much fun!” Bow squealed, breaking the silence. “I can’t wait to absolutely destroy B Cluster this summer!” 

“B Cluster?” Adora was new to camp lingo.

“Oh yeah, there’s always a friendly rivalry between the two cabin clusters,” Glimmer explained with a laugh. “It goes as far back as I can remember. Even when I went here as a kid there was always something going on!”

“Remember that one time last year when Entrapta tried to prank Sea Hawk at the talent show by messing with his auto tune? That was _hilarious_!” Bow chuckled at the memory.

“This sounds like even more fun than you guys made it out to be. I'm so excited!” Adora smiled, happy to be with her friends and excited to make new ones. 

Adora had expected a lot from Camp Brightmoon. She expected to get frustrated with campers (you know how kids can be). She expected to get an awful farmer’s tan. She even expected to capsize one of her canoes (she was notoriously bad at canoeing). But the one thing she wasn’t expecting was for Catra to be sitting in one of the chairs at Counselor Orientation. 

She stopped dead in her tracks when her eyes found Catra. No one seemed to notice and Adora managed to slink to one of the chairs in the back of the room to avoid being seen. Catra luckily hadn’t looked up from her phone, yet. So far, Adora was in the clear. Catra had changed quite a bit since the last time Adora saw her. Gone was the mane of curls that used to frame Catra's face; sometime in the last few years she had cut it short, and Adora had to admit the new boyish look suited her.

Adora turned to look at her two friends who were still standing by the door once she had finished taking in the fact that _Catra is really here_. Glimmer and Bow looked back at Adora, a tad confused. She didn’t say anything, opting to just plead with her eyes that they’d be quiet and not make a big scene. They got the message.

“When were you going to tell me _she_ was going to be here?” Adora whispered as quietly as she could when they sat down in the chairs in front of her.

“Who?” Glimmer asked, turning around to face her. Adora just nodded in Catra’s direction, who was still thumping away on her phone’s keyboard. 

“What do you mean? She’s new. My mom said something about her using the volunteer hours for college credit or something, but that’s about all I know,” Glimmer looked at Adora with a concerned look on her face. “Why? Is she a bad person or something?”

“I’d rather not get into it right now, it’s just-” Before Adora could finish her sentence Angella barged into the door with a stack of papers in her hands. 

“Welcome to Camp Brightmoon! I am Camp Director Angella. I know most of you have had experience working with us before and for that we are very grateful, but we still need to sit everyone down and go through our rules and safety procedures. Once we’re done going through this packet we’ll head on our tour and get prepared for the campers’ arrival at four o’clock.” Angella went around handing everyone a packet and halted at the front of the room.

“Before we get started, though, I thought a nice introduction wouldn’t hurt, especially for the new faces we have here. So let’s go around and give our names and a quick fun fact about ourselves.” Adora’s face flushed. She wasn’t going to get out of this orientation unnoticed. Although really, it’s not like she would have gone unnoticed for long anyways. They’d have to acknowledge each other sooner or later, may as well just rip off the bandaid. But, before Adora could bring herself down from her initial state of panic, Angella met her gaze.

“Adora, why don’t you start us off.” _Shit_ . At the mention of her name she saw Catra jolt up in her seat. _No going back now_.

“I- uh… Hi!” Adora gave a nervous wave to the group, trying not to meet Catra’s eyes. She could tell her face was growing warm after being caught off guard. “My name- My name’s Adora… And… My favorite animals are horses.” A nervous laugh rang from her lips as her eyes flitted across everyone’s faces, trying extra hard to make sure her gaze didn’t land on the one person she did _not_ want to lock eyes with. _Why do I have to sound like such an idiot?_

“Hi! My name’s Bow and I like archery. Which, you have to admit, is kinda impressive on my dads’ part, what with them being able to guess their son's future hobbies and all.” Bow fit in his introduction to cut the awkward silence that followed Adora’s.

The rest of the room went around in a similar fashion. _Perfuma hates cacti, Sea Hawk likes burning things_ (Adora was really confused as to how this guy got hired, but that’s irrelevant) _, Mermista’s favorite movie was the second in the_ Mermysteries _series, Scorpia loved hugs, Entrapta likes robots, Lonnie was on Horde College’s wrestling team, Rogelio liked to knit, Kyle invented this weird cup game he liked to play, and Catra…_ Catra. She was the last to go.

“My name’s Catra. I play guitar.” Adora could tell she was tense just by the way she held herself. She didn’t look up from the packet of papers in front of her when she made her introduction. Adora was glad to hear that Catra was still playing the guitar, though. 

“Alright, now that we got those introduction’s out of the way, let’s move on. I’m sure you’ll all get along great. Everyone turn to page two to look at our daily itineraries.” Angella began going over the packet in exhaustive detail. They discussed schedules, cabin assignments, safety protocols, and rules. The highlight of orientation, though, was definitely getting about four or five free Camp Brightmoon shirts. Adora could tell Bow was already trying to figure out how short he wanted to crop them just by the way he was looking at them.

“And I don’t know how many times I can stress this: DO NOT become romantically involved with each other. I’ve seen the types of drama it can cause and we here at Camp Brightmoon pride ourselves on professionalism. So please, just keep your hands to yourselves. It's only four weeks.” Angella closed the last page of the packet, her eyes darting between a few of the people in the room. There must have been a history of that here. “Alright, now that the boring stuff is out of the way let’s take a quick walk around camp.”

Stepping out into the bright sun was a little jarring after being cooped up in the small admin building for an hour. Adora shielded her eyes as they walked along the path and towards the main part of camp. It was all mostly familiar to her thanks to her walk through camp earlier that day with Bow and Glimmer. 

They paused at the big building she had seen earlier and Angella explained that it was the main social hub of camp. During the hushed whispers exchanged between counselors that Angella was clearly not a fan of, Adora heard them call the building "Central". Angella went on to talking about meal times and other important information that Adora should be paying attention too, but she was too busy eyeing Catra in every free second she had.

 _Why was she here? Since when did she volunteer to be around children? Glimmer did say it was for college credits. What was she majoring in?_ She must have looked upset because when the group moved on to visit the tennis courts and softball diamond Glimmer and Bow hung towards the back of the group with her.

“What’s going on Adora? I’ve never seen you get so upset at the sight of another person.” Glimmer was quiet about it which was nice. Bow gave Adora an encouraging look. _You can trust us_ , his eyes seemed to say. Of course, Adora already knew that.

“You remember that friend—Catra—that I had a falling out with right before freshman year?” Adora took a shaky breath. “Well, _she’s_ her.” Adora subtly nodded in Catra’s direction.

“Shit.” Glimmer whispered.

“Glimmer! Language!” Bow scolded. Glimmer just rolled her eyes.

“Oh come on Bow, lighten up a little,” Glimmer retorted. She turned her attention back to Adora. “If you really think it’s going to be a big deal we can try and adjust schedules so you don’t have to interact with each other, but my mom is already stressing about everything as it is so could you try to be civil?”

Glimmer felt bad for asking this of her friend, but she also knew that _no one_ wanted Angella to be more stressed than she already is. It would make the next four weeks a living hell. 

“I’ll try. Plus, I’m sure it’s just water under the bridge at this point? I’ll try to talk to her tonight-”

“Great idea! You should try at the social, I’m sure you’ll be able to catch her then!” Bow interrupted. Adora laughed nervously, still not knowing how this was happening. This summer was supposed to be simple. But nothing’s ever simple when you throw Catra into the mix.

After all the campers had arrived and survived the sleep-inducing lectures from Angella about rules, they were itching to move around and meet the peers they would be spending the remainder of the month with. 

About half an hour into the First Night Social, Adora tried to approach Catra who was standing in a corner talking to a tall, muscular woman with a white undercut. _Scorpia_ , Adora recalled from orientation. Adora began to approach them, a small twinge of jealousy helping her swallow at least some of her nerves. When Catra saw Adora over Scorpia’s soldier, she did a little salute to Scorpia and skulked off the wall and over to a group of campers, striking up a conversation. 

The tower of a woman turned to face Adora with the biggest grin Adora had ever seen. “Oh hi! I’m Scorpia! It’s so nice to see new faces around here, I love making friends,” and without hesitation, she swept Adora off her feet and pulled her up into a crushing hug that far surpassed the strength of Bow’s (and that was saying something). 

“Oh, yeah. Hi! My name’s Adora, I’m filling in for Mara because she cancelled so last minute so I really don’t have any idea what I’m doing.” Adora nervously scratched the back of her neck once Scorpia had placed her back on the ground.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Scorpia asked, but before Adora could respond to the question Scorpia leaned in a little and lowered her voice down to a whisper. “Neither do the rest of us.” 

That made Adora feel a little better, at least about being a counselor. But it definitely didn’t help with the whole Catra thing. “Well that’s a relief,” Adora forced a smile as her eyes darted over to where she had last seen Catra. She was gone now. “Hey, did Catra tell you where she was going? I was hoping to talk to her.” It was worth a shot.

“Sorry, she just dipped. I didn’t think to ask her where she was off to. Do you want me to relay a message if I see her again?” Scorpia seemed genuine. 

“No, no. It’s not that important, just wondering.” Adora felt bad leaving the conversation at that so she tacked on a well-intentioned goodbye. “Well, sorry for interrupting your conversation. I’ll see you around though!”

“No problem, kiddo! See you around!” Scorpia gave a little wave as Adora stepped back into the crowd of campers. It was as chaotic as you would think a social event with 100 twelve and thirteen-year-olds would be. 

Adora tried talking to Catra again once the excitement had died down a bit and most kids were sitting at tables talking to their new friends. And again Catra slipped away as soon as she caught sight of Adora. 

The night was almost over by the time she managed to successfully corner Catra into an interaction.

“Catra.” Her voice was not as strong as she had hoped it would be.

Catra looked up from the table she was sitting at, surrounded by some campers playing Go Fish. It looked like she was playing too. 

“What’s up?” Catra asked, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.

“Do you think we could talk for a second?” 

Catra just stared at her as the kids at the table continued to play, the smirk on her face taunting her. 

“In-in private. It’s about boring counselor stuff, I wouldn’t want to ruin your game with boring itinerary questions.” Adora gestured to the cards spread out on the table and mustered the best puppy dog eyes she could without being overkill about it. At this Catra gave in and huffed.

“Alright, just let me finish this round.” 

So Adora waited, watching Catra interact with the kids. It was weird seeing her get along with them so well. Back in high school Catra always talked about how she hated kids. That was a long time ago, though. Things must have changed.

“Ugh fine, Rowan, you win!” Catra smiled as she tossed her cards on the table in mock frustration. “Don’t think I won’t be back for round two!” She locked eyes with the victor, presumably named Rowan, and traced their shared gaze with two of her fingers as she stood up. “I’m watching you!” Despite Catra’s competitive banter, she sported the biggest, dorkiest smile on her face. Adora missed that smile.

Catra turned away from the table and stretched her arms out, hesitantly pacing towards Adora. The smile was gone. 

“What is it Adora?” Her voice was undoubtedly firm, but it had a hint of calm, which surprised Adora. She hadn’t expected that. _I didn’t expect Catra to be here in the first place, either_. 

“Look, about what happened in high school. I’m sorry-” Adora began, but Catra interrupted her.

“You need to stop saying sorry, Adora.” Unlike the last conversion she had with Adora, there was no malice in Catra’s voice. “I get it, and I’m not mad about it anymore. Took me a long time and a lot of help, but I’m fine now. Can we just pretend like it never happened? Keep it civil for the kids?”

“Oh… That was easier than I thought.” Adora was surprised how maturely Catra was handling the situation. It was a far cry from the civility (or lack thereof) during their last interaction the summer before freshman year of college. 

“It’s stupid to get hung up on petty high school bullshit,” Catra sighed. “But don’t think this makes what happened _actually_ go away. We can pretend it did, but it didn’t. Not really”

“Okay.” Adora could live with that. “Are you sure you don’t want to ta-”

“Yes Adora. I’m sure. We’re strangers who work together at this point, please treat me like one.” Adora would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t feel like a knife had been driven into her heart. When Catra turned away all she could be reminded of was the time she had done this to Catra three years ago. If this little conversation affected Adora as much as it did now, she couldn’t imagine how it must’ve felt for Catra back then. Just before Catra turned away to go back to her game of Go Fish, though, Adora thought she saw a hint of regret wash over Catra's face. It was gone just as quickly as it had come.

 _This is going to be one long summer_.


	2. Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora await an important email and Catra can't stop thinking about last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to switch the rating to M for now because of language (and perhaps for other reasons further down the line ;P)

**March- Senior Year of High School**

Twenty-four hours. Twenty-four hours until the future that Catra and Adora had been dreaming of since they were in seventh grade could materialize and it was all Catra could think about. She was insanely nervous obviously, everyone was when they were waiting for their college admission letters, but she was also insanely excited. She was already planning the layout of her and Adora’s dorm room, imagining the both of them grabbing lunch in between classes, and hanging out on the quad, doing homework in the early fall while the weather was still warm and the leaves would only just be beginning to change. 

Most of all, though, she was just excited to get out of her foster mother’s house. Ms. Weaver (God forbid Catra called the bitch “mom”) made her life a living hell and if she didn’t have Adora, Catra had no clue how she would have gotten through high school without going insane. The only good thing Catra could say about Ms. Weaver was that she travelled for work pretty often, making it easier to travel up into the mountains with Adora on the weekends. They would pitch up a tent in their favorite campground and just exist. Free from the stress of grades, parents, or softball practice. Catra had every intention of keeping up the tradition when they went off to Horde College.  _ If we even get it in _ , she thought.

“Hey Catra,” Adora smiled as she plopped next to her on the couch in the school library. It was their free period.

“Hey Adora,” Catra smiled back without lifting her eyes from her phone screen. Adora noticed that Catra was just staring at her email inbox.

“Nervous?” She asked. 

“How can you  _ not  _ be?” Catra laughed softly, careful not to be too loud as to annoy any of the librarians that were always looking to tell students off for being too rowdy. “I mean this is gonna make or break everything that we’ve worked for since forever basically.”

“I never said I wasn’t,” Adora agreed. “Guess it just hasn’t hit me yet that the letters are coming in  _ tomorrow _ ! It feels like just yesterday we were putting the finishing touches on our applications.” 

Catra just nodded in agreement, finally tearing her eyes from the screen and dropping her phone onto her chest as she leaned back into the couch. Adora grabbed some homework from her backpack and began scribbling away with a pencil. They sat like that for the next forty minutes. Catra probably should have gotten a head start on her homework too, but her mind was already racing a million miles an hour worrying about her future and any attempt to get work done would be in vain. So Catra just let her mind race and focused in on the sound of Adora’s pencil scribbling equations onto the page. When the bell rang Adora stood up extended her hand to help Catra to her feet..

“You better not have fallen asleep on me,” she smiled and nudged Catra’s leg with her foot.

“I’m too responsible for that,” Catra joked as she opened her eyes and accepted Adora’s hand, hoisting herself up to her feet.

“Says the one who fell asleep at the front of Mrs. Octavia’s class and started snoring so loudly that the next classroom over was able to hear you,” Adora replied. Catra just rolled her eyes.

“I told you not to bring that up again!”

“Sorry, not sorry!” Adora nudged Catra’s shoulder playfully as they walked out of the library and to their next class.

“Okay Catra, I know this is really nerve-wracking, but you just need to breathe! It’s just an email. It’s just an email.” Funnily enough, by the next afternoon Catra’s nerves had pretty much levelled out, but in the meantime Adora’s had skyrocketed to levels that far surpassed Catra’s and were climbing even higher with every passing second. 

_ Five minutes _ .

“I don’t know which Catra you’re talking too, but I’m doing fine, dummy.” It was half-true. Obviously she was still jittery, but nowhere close to how she was yesterday and definitely nowhere close to how Adora was right now. 

“Seriously Catra, you don’t have to put up a front with me! I know you, it’s not a big deal!” Adora was pacing quickly back and forth along the length of her bedroom and chewing her nails while Catra lounged on Adora’s bed watching her friend slowly descend into madness.

“Someone’s projecting,” Catra laughed.

_ Four minutes _ .

When Adora didn’t say anything in response Catra sighed and sprang herself off the bed and grabbed Adora by the shoulders.

“You know what, I  _ am _ feeling a bit stressed out. Do you think you could lead me through some breathing exercises?” Catra looked into Adora’s eyes which were definitely trying to desperately mask Adora’s anxiety, but they were kind of failing. At the suggestion of a breathing exercise, though, Adora’s lips tugged up into a small smile. 

“Sure,” Adora said a little shakily. “Alright breathe in… and out…” Adora and Catra stood in the bedroom looking into each other’s eyes as Adora led them through some deep breaths.

_ Three minutes _ . 

Even though Catra hadn’t been as on edge as Adora, there was something so comforting being there with her as they waited for the fateful ding of an incoming email notification. 

_ Two minutes _ . 

“Hey Adora, we’ve got this!” Catra whispered and pulled her friend into a hug as Adora let out an extra long exhale signaling the end of the breathing exercise. Adora hugged her back and Catra could feel Adora’s pulse racing as she buried her face into her friend’s neck. 

_ One minute _ . 

_ Home is where my Adora is _ , Catra had always joked. She may have slept at Ms. Weaver’s place, but Catra would rather die before calling it home. Adora’s arms were the only place Catra felt completely at peace. 

_ Ding. _

Adora jumped and (much to Catra’s dismay) pulled away. She fumbled over to her desk where her phone was laying. Its screen had lit up to feature a new email notification. She whipped her head around to face Catra who was still standing in the middle of the room.

“They’re in!” Adora nearly shouted. “Come on get your phone!”

Catra needed a second to regain her senses after Adora’s sudden burst of energy. “OH SHIT!” Catra jumped over to the bed and grabbed her phone. Adora walked over and sat next to her on the bed.

“Are you ready?” Adora’s breath wavered as her thumb hovered over the notification.

“Yeah,” Catra whispered as her thumb did the same.

“Okay,” Adora closed her eyes and took one last deep breath for good luck. “Three, two, one.”

_ Dear Catra, _

_ We at the Admissions Office are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to the Class of 2022 at Horde College. Congratulations! We cannot wait to see you on campus in the fall.  _

That was all she needed to read before jumping up in the air with a whoop of joy. She could feel the biggest smile grow on her face, but it immediately faltered when Adora did not seem as excited.

“Adora?” Catra hoped she hadn’t celebrated too soon. She watched as her friend frantically scanned the text of the letter. After a few more seconds Adora looked up at her Tears were welling up in her eyes, and Catra’s heart sank as she wrapped her arms around her friend. “I’m so sorry Adora.”  
“What are you sorry for? I got in silly!” Adora laughed and hugged back. “I just had to reread it to make sure that my mind wasn’t making stuff up.”   
“You have to stop scaring me like that, you idiot!” Catra pulled out of the hug to drive her knuckles into Adora’s head and that brilliant smile returned to her face despite the painful noogie Catra was grinding into her skull.

“HEY! Stop it, that's so uncalled for!” Adora yelped as she tried to push Catra off of her. After a brief skirmish they collapsed onto the bed on their backs. Once Adora had finished catching her breath she turned on her side to face Catra.

“What do you say we go on a celebratory trip up into the mountains this weekend?” Adora asked as Catra turned to face her.

“That sounds kinda lame,” Catra smirked. Adora rolled her eyes and lightly punched her friend on the arm.

“You’re so annoying,” she giggled. Catra could never get enough of those giggles.

“No you!” Catra retorted as she tickled Adora’s stomach.

“HEY! WHAT THE FUCK!?” Adora screamed and tried to swat away Catra’s hands. 

“So she does swear?” Catra managed through her unhinged laughter. 

“SHUT UP! STOP IT!” Adora shouted, nearly out of breath from laughing so hard. 

In a last ditch effort to get Catra to stop she grabbed her hands and rolled and swung her legs over Catra’s hips and pinned her hands to the bed above her head. At the sudden change of positions Catra’s breath hitched. 

_ I could get used to this _ , she thought as Adora hovered over her, breathing hard. Catra had always had a little bit of a crush on Adora, though she would never admit it to anyone other than herself. She felt bad whenever the two of them found themselves in compromising positions such as this one, but she wasn’t going to complain. If Adora was fine with it, then she would be too.

As much as she wanted to keep the crush thing to herself, Catra had to admit that it was getting harder and harder the longer it went on. If she was in this situation a couple years ago she probably would have just thought that kissing Adora right now would be cool, but now she had to actively fight off the urge.  _ Damn hormones _ .

“I hate you sometimes, you know that?” Adora sighed. 

“I know!” Catra smiled up at her. “Now can you get off of me?” Catra also knew her self-control had its limits. 

“Only if you say yes to this weekend!” Adora smirked with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh come on! Obviously! I wouldn’t miss it.” Catra tried to wiggle out of Adora’s grasp.

“Glad to hear it.” And with that Adora climbed off. Catra heaved a sigh of relief when Adora fell back onto the bed next to her.  _ That was close _ .

**Present day**

Catra kept replaying the conversation from the night prior over and over in her head. She hated how harsh she had sounded, but at the same time she needed her space. She was finally starting to get over what happened and then Adora had to waltz back into her life with her stupid too-tight ponytail and her ridiculous hair poof that Catra, though she would never this admit outloud, found kind of cute.  _ Shut up, Catra _ . 

She missed Adora, that wasn’t a mystery to anyone who knew anything about their history, but she didn’t want to get hurt again. And she knew putting up walls was probably the last thing she should be doing. Talking about her feelings was the smart thing to do, but she also didn’t want to risk another outburst. She had a level of professionalism to maintain even if she had to fucking  _ work  _ with Adora. She couldn’t afford anything bad to be in Director Angella’s report back to her advisor at Horde. 

So instead, she decided to watch Adora from afar. She grabbed her breakfast tray from Madame Razz, the head chef, and sat with her campers at their assigned table.

“Alright guys, are you excited for today?” She asked as she opened her milk carton and poured some into her cereal.

“What are we doing?” Rowan asked. 

“Well at some point, I want a rematch.” Catra laughed. “But before that, if I’m recalling correctly, we’re going to go bird watching, canoeing, and I’m going to attempt to help you guys with tie-dye.” She leaned forward a bit and hushed her voice down to a whisper while glancing around the table at her campers. “Don’t tell anyone else, but I don’t know how to do it so one of you guys are gonna have to show me!” The table erupted in a fit of snickers. 

As Catra straightened back up she flashed her eyes over to Adora’s table. She was eating an apple and talking to a girl that was sitting next to her while donning a bright red Camp Brightmoon t-shirt—one of the ones they had gotten at orientation yesterday.  _ Fuck, she looks good in red. SHUT UP, CATRA! _ She tore her eyes back down to her plate and dove a spoon into the bowl of cereal in front of her. 

The rest of the morning went by in a blur. As it turns out, Taylor was their group’s resident tie-dye expert and she helped Catra lead the activity. The kids seemed to be getting along well together, which made Catra’s job quite a bit easier. 

The lack of any budding rivalries definitely helped when they went canoeing on the lake during the second activity period. The last place she wanted an argument to break out was on the water. Instead, it was friendly banter that was exchanged between the boats as Catra led their small fleet along the shores of the lake.

It took all the responsibility that she was supposed to turn down a boat race as suggested by Jack, who was definitely the trouble-maker of the group (though by trouble-maker standards he was very well behaved). The last time she had attempted a boat race in canoes was with Adora, who had ended up in the water and needed Catra’s help turning it back over. In hindsight, Adora probably capsized because of her subpar boating skills, but Catra didn’t want to risk that again. 

“Hate to be a buzzkill, but I don’t think any of you want to end up in the lake right before we go walking through the woods. Chafing is a serious matter and isn’t fun, my friend.” Catra said before any of her other campers latched onto the idea. Jack groaned, but didn’t push beyond that, which Catra was thankful for. 

The group made it to the shore dry, thankfully, and started on their nature walk. Before heading onto the trail, Catra had the group take a pit stop at Central so she could grab the field guides with a list of birds that were indigenous to this stretch of the Whispering Woods along with nine pairs of binoculars. She entered the building and stepped into the large dining hall where they had eaten a few hours earlier and headed toward the small office that all of the counselors shared. She was about to turn the knob herself when the door flew open.

Adora, whose face was buried behind a bag of clay didn’t see Catra and ended up running into her.

“Oh shoot! I’m sorry… um I don’t know who that is. Can’t really see over this stupid thing. Is that Glimmer?” The mention of the girl who was clearly Adora’s new best friend (or one of them at least) made Catra’s heart twinge a bit.

“It’s-it’s me,” Catra muttered as she skirted around the stumbling Adora. 

“Oh,” was all Adora could manage before starting to fiddle with the door to try and close it.

“I’ll get it on my way out, don’t worry about it.” Catra didn’t look up from the box of binoculars she was rummaging through.   
“Thanks,” Adora grunted as she heaved the clay towards the pavilion where her campers were huddled.

After the run in with Adora, Catra was thankful to have a nice peaceful walk in the woods. The campers needed to stay quiet if they wanted a chance at spotting any birds and while Catra enjoyed talking with them, she appreciated the silence. She just had to mindlessly lead them along the trail and occasionally stop to look at a bird that someone had spotted. It was a nice change of pace from the earlier events of the day.

They returned to Central for lunch and the talk of the table was about the woodpecker they had spotted towards the end of their hike. It was pretty rare which made the sighting all the more special. 

“Hey wildcat!” Scorpia approached her after blowing the whistle that signaled the beginning of a game of capture the flag. The middle part of the day consisted of electives that the campers could sign up for at the beginning of the day. Today Catra was in charge of overseeing this game of capture the flag and a game of softball afterwards. 

“What’s up Scorpia?” Catra sighed leaning back on the trunk of a tree that lined the outside of the field.

“I haven’t seen you in such a funk since the dining halls stopped serving those grey protein bars you like. Is everything okay?” Scorpia and Catra had become best friends their freshman year at Horde College when they were randomly assigned to be roommates, so Scorpia had a good read on how Catra was feeling by now.

“You remember that Adora girl from orientation?” Catra asked, as she looked out across the field, partly making sure everybody was playing fair, but mostly trying to avoid eye contact with Scorpia. 

“Oh yeah! She talked to me last night at the social. She even asked about you, but I’m not quite sure why.”

“Ugh of course she did… Anyways, Adora is the girl from high school that I told you about that time I got wasted at our first frat party.” Catra pushed off the tree and walked forward a bit before flopping onto the grass with her legs splayed out and the heels of her hands propping up her upper body.

“The one you had a crush o-”

“Yes Scorpia,” Catra interrupted. She really had no interest in talking about this at the moment.

“Do you still like her? Is that why you’re being so weird?”  
“God, no! Jesus Christ, Scorpia, no. I was just shaken up because I haven’t seen her in so long and we didn’t exactly end things on a high note.” Scorpia was really not letting up on this conversation. “Hey! No puppy guarding!” Catra shouted out onto the field at one of the campers. She desperately wanted to change subjects.

“Oh, that makes sense I guess. You know if-”   
“Scorpia, I really appreciate that you want to help, but right now I think it’s best if I mull things over in my head first so I can figure out how I’m feeling,” Catra sighed. She knew she should talk to someone about this eventually, and bottling up her feelings until she felt like she was going to explode again was definitely not something she wanted to do again, but she also knew she needed some time to herself to process her emotions. At least that’s probably what Spinerella, her therapist, would say to her if she were here right now. 

“Okay, but let me know if you change your mind.” 

“Thanks, Scorpia.” And Catra meant it. The pair had worked hard over the past three years to respect boundaries, and Scorpia has definitely gotten much better at it. 

After Catra’s initial warning about puppy guarding, she and Scorpia only really had to get involved in the game a couple more times to break up arguments about who tagged who and when. Other than that though, the hour passed by uneventfully. 

After picking up the cones and collecting the flags, Catra headed towards the storage shed to dump off the equipment and pick up the gear that would be needed for softball. It was hot and stuffy when she stepped inside and there was an uncomfortably small amount of space to move around in. She tossed the things from capture the flag onto a shelf and grabbed a large bag off a hook that was labeled “Softball.” It was heavy and Catra had a tough time dragging it to the field. When she arrived and plopped it onto home plate she looked around for the other counselor that would be helping her. When she spotted the bright red shirt standing on the pitcher’s mound she audibly groaned. 

_ Shit. Of fucking course it has to be Adora _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the feedback on my last chapter, I really appreciate it! I'm going to try and have a new chapter of the fic out at least every Tuesday (though, I was itching to get this out so it's here a few days early), but that might have to change when I go back to school in a few weeks. Hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think of it so far! :)


	3. In the Bullpen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A game of softball makes both Catra and Adora reflect on their feelings from before and after their falling out.

When Adora saw Catra lugging the softball gear up the hill her stomach dropped. She had been expecting this; Glimmer had warned her of it at lunch after Adora got through a much needed rant about the run in with Catra at the office (Adora had been thoroughly embarrassed at how incapable she was of simply shutting the door in front of somebody else, it was even worse that it had to be _Catra_ ), but seeing her ex-friend plop the bag down at home plate was not something that the conversation with Glimmer had prepared her for.

All Adora wanted to do—well, at least what she wanted to do because it would help her stay sane—was stay as far away from Catra as possible, which sucked if she was being honest with herself. For the first time since the end of high school Catra was standing in front of her and not screaming, yelling, or worse, flat out ignoring her. _That was the worst part about graduation, she refused to even look me in the eye_. But now she was looking. At Adora. As she stood at the pitcher’s point. And while the look wasn’t what it had once been, Adora was not going to complain in the slightest (except she knew that whenever she was next able to chat with Bow or Glimmer, she would complain, because she knew she should stay as far away from Catra as possible, yet there she was making Adora want to do the opposite). 

Adora fiddled with the glove on her hand as she approached the plate. Campers had begun making their way onto the field and huddled against the backstop. 

“Hey Catra,” Adora began in a hushed tone. She stopped to see if Catra would respond, but only received a blank stare in response. “Look I know this is kind of weird because of _you know_ ,” Adora gestures between the two of them, trying desperately to be as collected and respectful as possible. “But I was thinking that I could pitch and you could catch? Just so it’s fair and so the kids don’t have any arguments over it.”

“Why would it be weird?” Catra asked. _She really is going to pretend like we’re complete strangers_. Although Adora knew the words were supposed to sting in the subtlest way possible, she saw a glint of playfulness in Catra’s eyes.

Instead of responding, Adora just shrugged and gestured to the bag on the plate. “I’ll take that as a yes.” On the outside, Adora’s face was taut in a forced smile. On the inside, Adora was screaming. _I can’t believe she’s just going to pretend that I didn’t pitch to her for seven FUCKING years. That we haven’t spent hours after practice in the bullpen._ Adora had always told Catra that those hours after practice were for just that: practice. But Adora had always known it was just so she could be with Catra for as long as possible (and the fact that they were usually alone was a bonus). 

Catra pulled the old and tattered chest guard over her head as she approached the kids anxiously piled against the chain link fence behind home plate.

“Just because there’s no crying in baseball doesn’t mean that there’s crying in softball,” she began her fake lecture with mock sternness. Catra’s million-dollar smile gave away her ruse. “So that means everyone needs to have fun, alright?” This earned some giggles from the sea of campers. Adora noticed how naturally captivated everyone got as soon as Catra began talking. There was something about her that commanded an audience, there always had been. “There will be no pouts, no whines, no tears! Because we’re all here for a good time, right everyone?”

“YEAH!” Adora couldn’t help but smile as the campers responded to Catra’s question with a chorus of cheers. She also couldn’t help when it faltered as Catra turned to catch her staring. Unlike Adora, the smile on Catra's face remained unaltered, but her eyes shifted from warm and happy to cold and guarded as soon as their gazes met. 

“Well, before we begin I think Adora here should probably go over some things.” Catra stepped back and all eyes were on Adora. 

“He-Hey everybody! I’m so glad everyone’s as excited as we are to have some fun today! Now who here doesn’t know how to play?” Adora scanned the crowd for any hands. None flew up. “Well that’s nice to see, it looks like we’ll get to spend more time playing. First and foremost we should split up into teams-” 

“Let’s go Cluster versus Cluster,” Catra interrupted before Adora could finish what she was saying. A lot of the campers grinned at the proposition and Adora was not going to be made out to be the bad guy. _Not again_. 

“Excellent idea, Catra!” Adora paced away from Catra as she asked all A Cluster kids to stand with her, and all B Cluster kids to stand with Catra. Luckily the teams were pretty evenly split so there was no need to make any adjustments, which Adora was thankful for. 

“So? Who wants to play ball?” Catra asked as she whipped up the catcher’s helmet and mitt from the bag. The campers, once again, cheered in response and after some more instruction they were on the field.

All throughout the game Adora tried to not to notice how Catra dug the balls of her feet into the dirt behind the plate just like she had done in high school. Or how her eyes would flash at her if her throw was outside the strike zone just like they did in high school. Or how she would occasionally shake out her shoulder as Adora postured for her next pitch just like she had- _Jesus Christ Adora, shut up!_

About forty-five minutes had passed and during a team switch she watched Catra stand and walk over to the backstop to get some water. The familiarity of the scene was what killed Adora; she had seen Catra do the same thing countless times before in practice after all.

Her best friend was close and yet so far. Adora likened it to seeing a ghost. 

Freshman year of college had been difficult. For one, when she was at the pitcher's point at practice or in games she wasn’t staring down at those eyes she had spent years memorizing and learning to read like the back of her hand. No matter who they belonged to, the eyes of her teammates were never nearly as readable as the mismatched blue and green she had grown accustomed to. She had spent the entire season aching for the comfort that Catra’s signature smirk would bring her as she took off her mask after a successful inning. Luckily, it had started to sting less and less every time the face that appeared wasn’t Catra’s, but the pain never _really_ went away.

But now, somehow, despite the eyes, the smirk, and the face all belonging to the girl Adora had spent years wishing she could see again—even just one more time—the pain was back and it was worse than it had ever been. Because _this_ wasn’t the Catra that Adora remembered. _She's a stranger_ , the words form last night echoed in her head.

As Catra squatted back down behind the plate, digging the balls of her feet in, shaking out her shoulder, and flashing her eyes back up at her, Adora closed her eyes to breathe. She ran her fingers over the stitching of the ball in her hand. When she opened them one of her campers, Nick, stepped up to the plate.

Adora took a deep breath and began her windup. The ball left her hand and its path to Catra’s glove was interrupted by the _thwack_ of a bat. Nick bolted down to first and then to second before he decided to stop. _Catra was always good at hitting doubles_ , Adora remembered. _I wonder if she’s still good at hitting doubles._

When Angella’s voice came over the camp's speaker system Adora’s shoulders slumped with relief. “Everyone report to the front of your cabins for a headcount before dinner in the next fifteen minutes!” 

The kids all groaned, as Catra gestured everyone towards home plate where they had given instructions an hour earlier. 

“Hey! What did I say about no crying in softball?” She smirked. The joke earned a few laughs. “Seriously though, that was a good game and Cluster A, you put up a good fight but unfortunately it was no match for Cluster B!” Catra turned and high-fived some of the kids from her team. 

“We just went easy on you!” Adora tried to get a jab in and that earned a cheer from Cluster A. “Next time we won’t play as nice.” 

Catra turned to face Adora, surprised at the banter. “We’ll see about that.” Her eyes narrowed slightly, but she kept the lighthearted tone in her voice. “Either way, win or lose we all had fun didn’t we? And that’s all that matters!” Always competitive, the kids from both teams rolled their eyes. _Yeah right, like Catra believes that for a second_. 

“Great job today everyone. We can’t wait to spend the rest of the month with you guys! Before you head down to quad make sure all the equipment is put in the bag. We’ll see you at dinner!” Adora concluded. A few moments later a stampede of kids had left the two counselors in the dust as they dashed towards the quad. 

Adora didn’t say anything for a second. She glanced over at Catra who was fiddling with the zipper of the bag that now held every bat, ball, helmet, and glove they had used that afternoon. Her short hair clung to her forehead and her cheeks were flushed pink. Now that Adora was up close she could see that her entire body was glistening with sweat and some of it was pooling into droplets. She followed one as it tumbled down her neck, across her collarbone, and down into her cleav- Adora tore her eyes away once she realized where she was looking. 

She involuntarily cleared her throat to try and make the whole ordeal less awkward. Catra just looked up. Her face looked annoyed, but something in her eyes was almost hopeful. 

“So ummmm…” Adora started. “Are you going to want help carrying that back?”

“No.” Catra looked away immediately.

“You sure? It’s really no problem. I saw you struggling with it earlier-”

“I’m sure.” No emotion was discernible from Catra’s response.

“Okay…”

“Yep.”

“Yepppp…” Adora looked around. She wanted to hold onto this conversation for as long as possible. She wanted to run away from this conversation as fast as possible. 

“That means you can go, I’ve got this,” Catra waved her hand in the general direction of the quad. 

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Adora still didn’t move. Instead, it was Catra who started towards the cabins.

“Really Catra, it’s not a big deal it will make it go by so much faster.” 

“Adora.” Catra’s tone suddenly had a bite to it that it hadn’t before. “Please, can we not do this.”

“Do what Catra? I’m just trying to help!” Adora was starting to get annoyed. _I thought we were supposed to be civil_.

“I know, but really. I can do this on my own.” Adora grabbed the other end of the bag and heard Catra huff in frustration. “You really can be a stubborn bitch sometimes, Adora.”

“How would you know that if we’re _strangers_ , Catra? Seriously, I thought we were supposed to be civil, and when I’m trying to be you’re just tossing me aside.” _God this feels familiar_. 

Catra stops in her tracks and stared ahead; her body tense and rigid. Adora could see the muscles in her jaw clench. “I’m sorry,” Catra exhaled through gritted teeth. The words were obviously not ones Catra was happy with saying, but the fact that she apologized was enough to make Adora pause. _Well that was weirdly easy_. 

“Look Adora, I know that this isn’t easy for you. Believe me, it’s not easy for me either. I know I said I’d be civil, but _this_ ,” she made a small gesture between the two of them, “is a lot weirder than I anticipated.”

“I know,” Adora whispered. “I’ll stop trying to make small talk then.” She also let go of the bag for good measure but did not leave Catra's side. She wasn't going to let Catra win as easily as she had in high school.

Catra wished she hadn’t said what she said. As soon as Adora shut her mouth Catra wanted her to open it again. She missed the voice of her old friend, the voice of the person she used to- _Nope. That was a long time ago_. The bubble of feelings inside of her was sending alarm bells to her brain and she knew she was going to get to her tipping point sooner than she had anticipated, but the thought of trying to talk to Scorpia or even worse _Adora_ about any of it scared the shit out of her. 

The silence between them was uncomfortable and Catra felt like she could finally breathe when she and Adora went their separate ways to meet up with their campers in front of their respective cabins. But even though Adora had left her side, the memories of her played on repeat in Catra’s head all throughout dinner. She still rubbed the stitching of the ball before winding up for her pitches, she still squinted her right eye as it followed the ball into Catra’s glove, she still exhaled through her teeth if it went outside the strike zone. Sure, her technique had improved a lot overall (at least as far as she could tell from the little game for camp, Catra wondered how much more obvious Adora’s improvements would be in a real game), but she still had those little quirks and mannerisms that Catra had always loved. _Especially when she would crinkle her nose after a strikeout and roll both her shoulders around a few times…_

Catra couldn't bear to even look at a softball for months after the fallout with Adora. It just reminded her of what wasn't. It took her awhile before she joined the club team at Horde; it was only last year really (she technically joined sophomore year, but didn't have the heart to drag herself to any practices. _It's different without her_ ). Just another thing Adora had taken from her. Not only had she taken away her home and her dreams, but she took away Catra's _thing_ , the sport she had loved since kindergarten. That was Catra's interpretation of things anyways, until Spinerella had told her that it was only Catra who was taking those things away from herself. It was a hard pill to swallow, but once she drank the Kool-Aid Catra had to admit that Spinerella was right. 

Playing got easier over time, but it was never the same as it had been in high school. The club team's pitcher, Flutterina, never gave her an affectionate punch on the shoulder after pitching a good inning. She never slapped her helmet over Catra's head when she returned to the dugout after scoring a run. She never knit her eyebrows and fiddled with her visor every time she let someone walk. Not that her and Flutterina didn't work well together, it just was never the same. 

It still wasn't the same, not even after the game from earlier. Catra hadn't expected it to be when she saw Adora shuffle over to her at home plate while nervously picking at her glove. There was a distance between the two of them that had never been there. Sure, Catra could forecast every single one of Adora's tics and fidgets, but their rhythm was off; their jive was gone. Catra couldn't concretely pin it on anything, but the fact that they hadn't played or spoken in three years while not having addressed Adora's betrayal probably had _something_ to do with it. 

However, Catra would be lying to herself if said she didn't find it nice to be holding the steely gaze of Adora again. _It's just because_ _I admire her as a player_. This was partly true, Adora had been a huge inspiration growing up. Her work ethic was admirable and even though she kept Catra in the bullpen even after hours of practice had ended, Catra would never complain, she was still with Adora after all. As much as Catra still admired Adora as a player though, she knew deep down that she hadn't wanted that game to end, because she wanted to find their rhythm again and the only reason Catra pushed those thoughts down was because she knew they weren't _just_ referencing their rhythm on the field. She wanted to jive with Adora again _off_ of it. 

Catra only realized she was lost in thought when Edith, one of her campers, waved her hand in front of Catra’s face. This made her jerk up in her seat and the fork she had been holding fell into her mashed potatoes. 

“Earth to Catra!” She said. 

“Sorry, Edith! You guys really must have tired me out today,” she lied to them and herself. _The only reason I’m so distracted is because I’m tired. It has to be._

Still, Catra couldn’t help herself from stealing glances at Adora during mealtime. Her ponytail had loosened a bit since this morning and her poof was still intact. The big smile she wore on her face as she talked with her campers made the whole ambiance of the room feel lighter. Catra hated how much she missed that smile. 

During the free hour after dinner Adora needed to clear her head. She sat out on the bench that was situated outside her cabin and faced out towards the quad with her nose in a book, occasionally peeking over the top to make sure no one was killing anyone else. 

Glimmer sat down next to her after a little while. “I’m assuming softball didn’t go great?” She asked.

“Not really. The entire time I was just reminded of high school and it made me miss her more. But her? It just made her hate me more, I think.” Adora kept reading, trying desperately to drown her thoughts out.

“I’m really sorry,” Glimmer placed a hand on Adora’s shoulder. “If I had known, I swear I would’ve tried to figure something else out-”

“It’s fine, Glimmer. I’ll get through it. I managed the last few months of senior year didn’t I? I can manage this.” 

“You don’t have to do this on your own, Adora. Not this time.” Glimmer picked up her hand and stood up. “Remember that Bow and I are here for you whenever you need us, but I’ll leave you to your book unless you want me to stay.” Glimmer could tell Adora was only half listening to her any way. 

“Thanks, I’ll try to remember.” Adora offered a weak smile and turned back to reading as Glimmer walked off. 

The next time Adora looked up to scan the quad her gaze landed on Catra who was now sitting on the steps leading into her cabin with a group of kids surrounding her listening intently to whatever she was saying. It would’ve made her heart hurt if it wasn’t such a foreign thing for the Catra she remembers to do, the same Catra who swore up and down that she hated kids and that she wouldn’t be caught voluntary within ten feet of one. Yet here she was, _voluntary_ spending a month of her life at Camp Brightmoon and she looked like she was _enjoying_ it. 

She wanted to implore as to why things had changed. She wanted to ask what the tattoo was that she had seen on the outside of Catra's thigh, poking out from under the hem of her shorts, because that was new too. But of course, Catra had asked her to shut up, and Adora planned on doing that unless it was absolutely necessary that they talk. It would suck, but she could do it. _I’ve done it before_.

She let her gaze hold on her for a while. Watching her laugh and fiddle with the temples of her sunglasses that were no longer needed on her face as the sun had dipped low into the sky. Adora couldn’t help it; if she couldn’t talk to her she could at least look. _That’s not too weird is it?_ The look on Catra’s face when she realized Adora was staring seemed to answer her question. Annoyance washed over Catra’s face and all Adora could do was bury her face back in her book and hope that Catra couldn’t see just how red her face was getting from across the quad. 

Catra was utterly and annoyingly confused when she had caught Adora staring. Why the hell was she feeling this way? She was over it, wasn't she? Why did Adora fucking Grayskull have to even _be_ here in the first place? Why, why, why, why, why? Catra had no good answer for it. _I just miss what we used to have, I don't miss_ her, Catra tried to tell herself as she brought her focus back to telling Jack, Taylor, and Rowan about the time she had gone sky diving last year. 

At the campfire that night Catra’s thoughts were still bouncing around in her head like a pin ball, and the only thing that could quell the chaos was Entrapta's computer. She had begun talking to Catra (although it was more of a lecture as opposed to a conversation) a few minutes after the campfire started and the two of them had been sent to prep the s'more kits while the fire was crackling. And while information about building a gaming PC was of no interest to Catra whatsoever, the constant drone of information was a welcome distraction away from her own problems.

The pair worked quickly, putting a marshmallow, a chocolate bar, and two graham crackers on small paper plates until there was no room left on the fold out table.

"Alrighty everyone," Entrapta chirped and all the campers turned to face the table. "Let's make some s'mores!" 

The next few minutes were a hectic mess as the campers scrambled for roasting sticks and a plate. Eventually though, the chaos died down and Catra plopped down with her campers and stuck a marshmallow into the fire. She had become an expert marshmallow toaster over the years after spending countless weekends perfecting the art with- _g_ _od-fucking-dammit, why does everything always come back to her?_ Catra grunted as she shifted uncomfortably on the log she had been sitting on while her marshmallow hung over the fire. She wished Entrapta was still nearby so she could get lost in the midst of her technical jargon. Unfortunately for Catra, Entrapta was still over by the table and out of ear shot. 

The lack of stimulus for her brain to latch made it very difficult to fight the urge to look across the flames and embers to the girl she could hear explain the intricacies of cooking a marshmallow to perfection. Catra had never had much self-control, but she was determined not to lose it. She managed to finish her marshmallow without a single glance upwards. As soon as she set down her roasting stick and grasped onto her s'more with her pointer and thumb, though, she couldn't fight the urge anymore.

Adora had already taken a bite out of the s’more she had made, and was taking a second bite while she watched one of her campers blow out a marshmallow that had caught on fire. Marshmallow and melted chocolate oozed out from the sides of the graham crackers and stuck to Adora's cheeks, leaving her with dimples of chocolate and marshmallow goo. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight, unfortunately, and the reminder of _that_ night was nearly too much for Catra to handle. 

Catra tore her eyes away and stood up. She gave her s'more to Entrapta who had taken to chatting Kyle's ear off and starting walking towards her cabin when Entrapta called back to her.

"Catra, where are you going? Aren't you going to eat this?" She held out Catra's s'more (which was perfectly made if Catra said so herself). 

"No, you can have it, I just need to clear my head. I'll be back in a bit." Catra forced a smile and started to turn before pausing. "You know actually, I'd love to her more about this PC of yours." 

_Anything to stop remembering_. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated! I'd love to hear your thoughts (and don't worry, we'll find out what happened ~that~ night very soon ;P)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at writing fanfiction so any advice or feedback is greatly appreciated and encouraged! Thanks for reading :)


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